


The Molly House: Just A Bit of Queer British History

by Tendergingergirl



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, M/M, Molly House, Queer British History, Queer History
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 06:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16867576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tendergingergirl/pseuds/Tendergingergirl
Summary: Originally written November 14, 2016





	The Molly House: Just A Bit of Queer British History

 

 

In HLV, Molly revealed that her room is sometimes used as a bolthole for Sherlock. Turns out they were reenacting actual history.

## “We agreed, he needed the space.”

[**Molly-house**](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMolly_house&t=MDJmYTU3NGRiNmFkN2E0YmY0MjdjNTRmYjQ5ZTRjYzllODFjZGNmYSx6cWhZZTdkWg%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F153196097211%2Fthe-molly-house&m=1) was a term used in 18th and 19th century England for a meeting place for homosexual men. These meeting places were generally taverns, public houses, coffeehouses or even private rooms where men could either socialize or meet possible sexual partners…At that time homosexual sexual activities were illegal and were heavily prosecuted; they remained capital offences until 1861. In this context, particularly during the 1720s, molly-houses came to be the scenes of raids and arrests, and their customers the ideal target for blackmailers.  
Molly-houses can be considered a precursor to some types of contemporary meeting places for the gay community. some of the activities popular among the homosexual community, that were seemingly taking place in molly-houses (by nature, marginalised meeting places), were often associated both to female roles and to a family environment (i.e. [cross-dressing](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCross-dressing&t=ODYzMjlmZmY5NDBiMzVkNjY1Yjk3YWViOWQxNGRmODI5ZTRkNzQ0Zix6cWhZZTdkWg%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F153196097211%2Fthe-molly-house&m=1), _marriage_ and _mock birth_ [rituals](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FRitual&t=YjFjNzRlNjM2OTk1ZjFiMDdiOWFmYmEwN2I4NGY1MmQ5YzQ1OWI5MSx6cWhZZTdkWg%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F153196097211%2Fthe-molly-house&m=1), as described in a [satire](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSatire&t=NTBkNTZiNmQ4NTYyNjNlNTJmZTI4YTdhNjM3ZDIxOWNkMWFmYjViYyx6cWhZZTdkWg%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F153196097211%2Fthe-molly-house&m=1)work of the time, Edward Ward’s _Satyrical Reflections on Clubs, Chapter XXV Of the Mollies Club_ ).  

_A parodic cartoon depicting male and female crossdressing, c. 1780, after work_

From **[The Sodomite Becomes a Molly](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.banap.net%2Fspip.php%3Farticle186&t=NTQxYWRlZTBhMzZmNTU5YzcxNGMyNzAxODI5M2ZkNTdjZjg5Y2ZlMCx6cWhZZTdkWg%3D%3D&b=t%3A99US-dd59KEFK-T_oX2E5Q&p=https%3A%2F%2Ftendergingergirl.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F153196097211%2Fthe-molly-house&m=1)** _The re-emergence of male effeminacy is best documented in England at the beginning of eighteenth century, where effeminate men were sufficiently well-known to be given a specific name, “mollies.” They gathered in taverns, where they crossed-dressed and mimicked women.”_ (Greenberg, “Transformations of Homosexuality-Based Classifications”, p. 186 in The Gender/Sexuality Reader Culture, History, Politico Economy, editors Roger N. Lancaster and Micaela di Leonardo.) _“A revolution in the gender relations of Western societies occurred in the first generation of the eighteenth century, and it is the purpose of this book to describe its consequences for the sexual behavior of most men and women. Around 1700 in northwestern Europe, in England, France, and the Dutch Republic, there appeared a minority of adult men whose sexual desires were directed exclusively toward adult and adolescent males. These men could be identified by what seemed to their contemporaries to be effeminate behavior in speech, movement, and dress. They had not, however, entirely transformed themselves into women but instead combined into a third gender selected aspects of the behavior of the majority of men and women.”_ (Trumbach, Sex and the Gender Revolution Volume One Heterosexuality and the Third Gender in Enlightenment London, p. 3)                                                                                                             

***** _Of interest: The word **molly** (also spelt as molley, mollie, mally) is a pet-form of the female forename **Mary** , and had two main connotations in 18th century English.The first one is close to the word moll, designing a lower-class girl or woman, occasionally a prostitute. The second one is classified as slang, defining an effeminate, usually homosexual, male.                                                    _

_***** Bit of humour : _The most well-known molly-house in 18th century London was the one owned by a _Mother Clap **.**_

2010: Episode 2 of the second series of _Garrow’s Law_ , a BBC production set in and around London’s Old Bailey courthouse, depicts legal issues surrounding gay life in the 18th century, including a molly-house in its settings. Rupert Graves stars.


End file.
